MAHARASHTRA

Fadnavis, politicos witness naval exercise

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on board the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya | Twitter handle of the spokesperson of the Indian Navy

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with MPs and senior state functionaries visited front-line warships of the Indian Navy's Western Fleet and witnessed a naval exercise on Wednesday.

This was the first time such an event was attempted.

"Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command, hosted Fadnavis and other visitors, which also included Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, chairman of the Legislative Council, and Haribhau Bagade, speaker of the Legislative Assembly," an official said.

The dignitaries were on board front-line Navy warships of the Western Fleet for the exercise, in which INS Vikramaditya along with some warships—INS Chennai, INS Kolkata, INS Trishul and INS Teg—of the Western Fleet participated, the official added.

The shipborne anti-submarine warfare Seaking and AEW Kamov helicopters and the MiG-29K carrier-borne fighter aircraft participated in an impressive air power demo.

"Besides a detailed briefing on the role and scope of operations of the Western Naval Command, an operational demo was conducted for the embarked personnel. The exercises and live demonstration included a submarine demo by the recently commissioned submarine INS Kalvari and missile demo by INS Vidyut," the official noted.

"In addition, a search and rescue demo by SAR helicopters provided a clear insight into the complexities of rescue operations at sea, especially in higher sea states," the official said in a statement.

Fadnavis lauded the role of the armed forces in safeguarding territorial, maritime and economic interests of the country and acknowledged the gallant services of the naval personnel to the nation with professionalism and fortitude in the challenging environments of the high seas.